Is your academic English sharp enough for journals and grad school?
Hedging, citation framing, signposting, and the line between formal and stiff.
18-25 min
estimated duration
14 live questions
diagnostic depth
14 styles
diagnostic variety
7 skills
coverage
Quick challenge warm-up
Try one short trap before the full diagnostic
These rooms match the skill mix of this test and give users a fast win, fail, or rematch moment before they commit to the longer run.
PTE customer feedback summary 3
36s short writing warm-up before the 18-25 min diagnostic.
Cambridge despite transformation 3
35s short writing warm-up before the 18-25 min diagnostic.
PTE customer feedback summary
35s short writing warm-up before the 18-25 min diagnostic.
The full report still comes from the diagnostic. The warm-up makes the first tap feel lighter and more shareable.
Browse challenge roomsLive diagnostic blueprint
What this test actually checks
The page uses the same question set as the runner. These counts are not marketing placeholders.
Multiple choice
7Good for quick, high-signal diagnostic traps.
Audio choice
4Checks what the user hears, not only what they can read.
Open response
2Captures active speaking or writing signal.
Sentence ranking
1Checks whether the user can feel better, okay, risky, and unnatural English.
Product-level question styles
Why this feels like a diagnostic, not a school quiz
The runner uses 4 mechanics, but this test exposes 14 learner-facing diagnostic styles such as tone, image vocabulary, listening, ranking, correction, and open production.
Multiple choice
11Choose the best answer from plausible options.
Fast recognition, distractor resistance, and practical accuracy.
Dialogue completion
6Choose or produce the line that fits a conversation.
Turn-taking, pragmatics, spoken context, and real-life response choice.
Scenario-based response
5Handle a work, travel, interview, support, or real-life situation.
Practical readiness under a recognizable real-world context.
Tone and register selection
5Choose the right level of politeness, formality, or confidence.
Formal/informal control, professional safety, and social nuance.
Listening comprehension
4Answer from audio, fast speech, reductions, or implied spoken meaning.
Speed tolerance, detail recall, connected speech, and implication.
Timed translation and reaction
4Answer quickly to reveal automaticity, not only knowledge.
Speed, recall pressure, and translation lag.
Fill in the blank
3Complete a sentence with the missing word, particle, article, or tense.
Controlled grammar and vocabulary recall inside a sentence.
Image vocabulary
3Use a visual scene to choose the precise word.
Active vocabulary, visual meaning, and word-context fit.
Adaptive modes
Pick the right length for the moment
The same diagnostic can run as a full assessment, a quick check, a focused repair, or a proof run after practice.
Full diagnostic
The complete signal for the most reliable report.
4 formats / 7 skills
Quick check
Shorter run for a fast read when the user is not ready for the full test.
4 formats / 7 skills
Naturalness focus
A shorter run biased toward naturalness signals.
4 formats / 7 skills
Proof run
More pressure from active, audio, and harder prompts.
4 formats / 7 skills
Sample question
Pick the most appropriate academic hedge.
What this reveals
The data suggest the hypothesis may hold.
Live question preview
A few report-ready prompts from this test
These are pulled from the same playable diagnostic. The user can see the kind of answer, explanation, and result signal they will get before committing to the full run.
1. Multiple choice / Naturalness
B1Decide fast: natural or translated?
"She explained me the rule"
Best answer
Unnatural
Mini explanation: "She explained me the rule" sounds translated. Better: She explained the rule to me.
Report signal: A quick swipe that exposes translated English instantly.
2. Audio choice / Listening
B2Choose the implied meaning, not the literal words
Listen to the speaker. What is implied?
Best answer
The speaker is politely saying the decision probably needs to change.
Mini explanation: Softened English often hides criticism inside polite wording. The correct answer captures the practical implication.
Report signal: Short, diagnostic, and reusable across tests, funnels, and practice loops.
3. Audio choice / Pronunciation
A1Listen and choose the word you hear
Did you hear ship or sheep?
Best answer
ship
Mini explanation: The target audio is "ship". This generated-vault item isolates one sound contrast so the report can separate listening from spelling.
Report signal: Short, diagnostic, and reusable across tests, funnels, and practice loops.
4. Open response / Real life
B2Answer in 1-2 natural sentences
You need to reschedule an appointment. Say what you need in 1-2 sentences.
Target behavior
12+ words; look for: please, could, today
Mini explanation: Service recovery response checks short, polite repair request. The distractors are designed around rubric flags missing request, unclear problem, or unsafe tone. A strong answer is clear, polite, and concrete enough to act on.
Report signal: Short, diagnostic, and reusable across tests, funnels, and practice loops.
5. Multiple choice / Vocabulary
B2Choose the natural English collocation
Which phrase sounds natural in everyday English?
Best answer
set a reminder
Mini explanation: set a reminder is the natural collocation. The other choices are understandable word-by-word but sound translated or mechanically assembled.
Report signal: Short, diagnostic, and reusable across tests, funnels, and practice loops.
Feedback experience
What the user gets after finishing
Skill map
Scores by the exact skills this test touched.
Pattern diagnosis
Repeated weak patterns grouped into readable cards.
Next move
Follow-up tests and practice steps based on misses.